Closing a Few Loopholes

10th March 2017 |
Alex Scott

Edit: After listening to player feedback, we have slightly changes our plans relating to hand histories. These changes will now be rolled out from 11-13 April. The blog below has been updated to reflect our new plans.

There’s a few things happening on the MPN that I want to make you aware of.

As a poker player, I hoped that this experiment would fail, that players would vote with their feet and that the trial would show we’d make less money from charging these fees in the long term. However, that has not been the case. In fact, the data and analysis we have to date shows that there would be a sustainable increase in revenue from charging these fees.

As a software and services provider, our objective is to make as much money for our customers (poker rooms) – in the long term – as possible. That means developing brilliant software, running great promotions, and creating thrilling experiences. It also means optimising the rake and fee structure, to deliver as much revenue to our customers as possible in the long term.

In this case, we’re increasing fees. I know that many players will not like this and will find it difficult to accept, so all I can do is be transparent about what we are doing and why. The changes will take effect on 14th March.

Changes to Hand Histories

We have a difficult relationship with tracking software. Personally, I think it’s really important for players to be able to track and analyse their own gameplay, and tracking software is an excellent way to improve if used properly. It’s also a great way to be a responsible gambler, because you can’t hide from your results.

But I also think tracking software has changed the game in a way that makes it less fun. It allows you to gather huge amounts of data on your opponents, without requiring any significant attention or observation on your part. It allows you to exploit the weakest opponents exclusively, if you wish.

We have wanted to limit the ability of tracking software to gather data on opposing players for a long time, and it’s why we introduced features like Anonymous Tables and regular Alias Changes. We are making two more small changes in this area, which have implications for users of tracking software.

In cash games, we will only save a full hand history to your computer if you contributed to the pot. If you don’t contribute to the pot, we will save a reduced version of the hand history with only basic information such as your balance, hole cards, and the fact that you folded. This reduced hand history will not include your opponents’ hands or actions. The implication of this is that you will not be able to track hands in which you did not actively participate, nor will you be able to gather data on your opponents by passive observation.

We will not save hand histories for Anonymous Tables at all. These tables are intended to be a tracking software free zone, and we will take active measures to stop the use of HUDs and tracking software at Anonymous Tables, should any software provider attempt to bypass the restriction.

The net effect of this is that you can still use tracking software to track your own gameplay, and you can still use a HUD at the tables. However your tracking software will gather much less information about your opponents in general.

These changes will be rolled out from 11-13 April.

Grimming, Table Blocking, and Blind Posting

We are also closing some loopholes with regards to cash games.

We’ll no longer deal cards to determine the blind positions. The animation will be removed and we’ll simply randomly assign the button and blinds to the seated players. It will not be possible to sit out after the button and blinds have been assigned – hence, it will no longer be possible to ‘grim’ your opponents.

We’re requiring all players to automatically post blinds in cash games. This means that when you are sitting waiting for an opponent, and an opponent sits down, your blinds will automatically be posted.

Players will not be allowed to sit out from a table unless they have contributed to a pot first. If you try to sit out before you’ve contributed to the pot, you’ll simply be removed from the table, freeing up the seat for somebody else.

The implication of this is that it will no longer be possible to easily block Heads Up tables, nor will it be possible to refuse action from somebody who sits down with you at a Heads Up table. You will be expected to play anybody that sits down with you for at least one hand.

These changes are part of the same release as the hand history changes and will also take effect from 11-13 April.

And Finally… Fish Party on the Move!

Our next big release is tournaments for the mobile client. This will include Fish Party, SNGs and Scheduled Tournaments – it’s a big release that we’re very excited about!

The feature will be tested for a short public beta period with Betsafe on April 13th, rolling out to our remaining mobile poker rooms between April 18th – 21st.